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Monthly Archives: September 2012

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
– More to be desired are they than gold
– In keeping them there is great reward

The Psalm ends with a beautiful request that shows us an example of how to pray:

Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:13, 14 NKJV)

Interestingly enough, the Bible takes time to point out that Isaac followed in his father’s example – even to the point of calling his wife his sister.

And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, She is my wife, because he thought, lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold. (Genesis 26:7 NKJV)

Isaac says the same thing about his wife as Abraham said about Sarah. Either there weren’t very good looking women in Abimelech’s land, or the judgement of the Philistines was questionable. Whatever the case, Abimelech figures it out this time around. They watch Isaac and observe that he shows affection to Rebekah. He calls Isaac out on his cover.

And Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us. So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. (Genesis 26:10, 11 NKJV)

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. (Luke 14:1 NKJV)

Jesus was invited to the house of someone in a influential position. Jesus was not made flesh to make friends and it is apparent in this chapter. He was on a mission to teach the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Healing a man with some sort of edema on the Sabbath, he challenged a mindset that no healing should take place on the Sabbath.

I found it interesting today how Jesus noted the men taking the best positions at the meal. Today I think we would call it “jockeying” for position. Some of us really like positions of influence/attention – and all of things that come with it. Jesus’ response to this was clear: those who humble themselves before others will be exalted in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are puffed up will be humbled. The Kingdom of Heaven is helping those in need – not for the sake of recognition of men – but because your heart is in the right place. This will be exalted in heaven.

But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, Friend, go up higher. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:10, 11 NKJV)

Abraham’s servant was sent on what appeared to be an impossible task: bring back a wife from Abraham’s original land (his father’s house) for his son Isaac. The servant believed that even if he found a willing wife for Isaac, how could he convince her to leave her home for Canaan? The interesting thing is what he did with that doubt – he prayed.

Then he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, Please let down your pitcher that I may drink, and she says, Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master. (Genesis 24:12, 14 NKJV)

Before he had even finished speaking the prayer, the beautiful Rebekah comes out to get water from the well. The servant was in awe at Rebekah and that the Lord would have answered his prayers and made this trip so successful. He almost didn’t believe as it was happening in front of him.

Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my masters brethren. (Genesis 24:26, 27 NKJV)

I believe the important thing to take from this is that Abraham’s servant had a promise from God. God keeps his promises in mighty ways. It’s His promises that give us hope and faith; specifically when he says something to us about what is to come.

But he said to me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my fathers house. (Genesis 24:40 NKJV)

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. (Luke 13:11 NKJV)

Infirmity – a physical weakness or ailment; lack of strength.

But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13:12, 13 NKJV)

Loosed – free from anything that binds or restrains; free from fastening or attachment.

What an amazing passage! A woman who could not walk upright because a spirit of Satan has her in shackles for 18 years. There are many thing that I take away from this:

– Jesus was teaching in the synagogues on the Sabbath.
– This lady believed and was called by Jesus “a daughter of Abraham.”
– She immediately glorifies God when healed.
– Satan had bound her with an “unseen” spirit of infirmity with physical consequences.
– Jesus loosens the spirit by both proclaiming the Father’s words and with physical touch.
– The ruler of the synagogue responds out of frustration that the law was not being recognized (in his mind).
– Jesus looked at the situation and had grace and mercy on the woman. He helped because He knew what His Father wanted Him to do. Jesus calls the woman to Himself in this example.
– People are to be considered more valuable than animals.

The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him. (Luke 13:15-17 NKJV)

Is there anything more frightening than death? Or death by another person? In the following passage, Jesus says not to fear death by another man – do not be afraid of what “they” can do to you. It is a pretty solid point to fear the one who knows the number of hairs on your head and controls where poeple go in the after life.

And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! (Luke 12:4, 5 NKJV)

I believe Jesus is pursuading us to to put God first; elavate Him above all else – including our fear of death or man. We should respect Him above all other authority. That doesn’t mean we ignore all other aspects of life. But, He is the very one who created us and can give us everlasting life or everlasting hell.

Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8, 9 NKJV)

This passage of scripture fascinates me. This is the second time that Abraham feared for his life in front of a new people so that he called his wife, Sarah, his sister. The people in that age were not God fearing and Sarah must have been very beautiful. Wherever Abraham went, the people wanted to take her as their own prized possession. It was also revealed in this passage that Abraham was only telling a partial lie:

But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. (Genesis 20:12 NKJV)

There were several interesting things that stood out to me in this particular passage today.

The sanctity of marriage. Even in that time God came to Abimelech in a dream and reprimanded him for taking another man’s wife. In his defense, Abimelech proclaims to God, “I did not know it was his wife!” Later we learn that God punished them by closing all of the wombs in Abimelech’s house, only to later heal them.

God’s Ambassador’s: the prophets. In the old testament especially, God partnered with the prophets to carry out His will and His word. God was with Abraham. They talked to each other. God made promises to Abraham, protected him and answered his prayers. Abraham was not perfect, but he demonstrated how we can have a relationship with the Lord. God commands Abimelech to restore Abraham’s wife in a very clear message of who’s side He is on:

Now therefore, restore the mans wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours. (Genesis 20:7 NKJV)

God’s Mysterious Ways. God has His ways and that is that. We will never fully understand Him no matter how hard we try. In this passage, He threatens Abimelech in a dream and closes the womb of all those in his household. What for? All for taking a prophets wife in the innocence of his heart.

Did he not say to me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this. And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. (Genesis 20:5, 6 NKJV)

It’s as if God knew this the whole time. He kept Abimelech from Sarah, but curses His family anyway. He is all powerful and later heals their family when Abraham prays for Abimelech. The only way I can wrap my mind around this is that God was literally putting the “fear of God” into them. That was something that was definitely missing in those days. I have learned that we don’t always know why God does what what He does, but we partner with Him anyway. His ways are good and His understanding passes ours.

The Power of Prayer. God chose to heal Abimelech’s family only after Abraham prayed for him.

So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; (Genesis 20:17 NKJV)